Comments on: Ya Don’t Bring a Butter Knife To A Street Fight

By: lillingtondemocrat

lillingtondemocrat — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:28:00 +0000

Elaine Marshall lost a state house (or was it senate) race back in the 90’s. If memory serves me, and it sometimes doesn’t. she lost on the first count, won in the first recount and then it was a tie in the second recount. She then lost in the special election to settle it. A true lightweight, Dan Page won but he soon faded away and who knows where he is today. Of course EM then lost a primary for US Senate but recovered to became S of S and continues to serve our state well. I never heard her complain, she just kept her head up and plugged along.

By: Redneck

Redneck — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:30:03 +0000

That Girl makes my point precisely.

I don’t know Elaine Marshall personally and but do know that she is a decent, well-intentioned person.

But regardless of that, she should be willing to get down and dirty. Democrats have to learn how to politicize elections.

LBJ didn’t get elected to the Senate by winning the popular vote, brown bags full of cash from Brown and Root, now KBR, bought off county chairs in the valley and led to extraordinary vote counts that put him over the top.

As with LBJ, Giancana’s Chicago precinct program did move Illinois into the Kennedy column and provided the electoral votes necessary to claim the nomination.

By: That Girl

That Girl — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:31:15 +0000

Of course, anyone who knows Elaine Marshall knows she would be a ton less likely to politicize an election in the blatant way Harris did.

Good thing the people of Florida punished Harris for her irresponsibility - by sending her to Congress. Good grief!

By: southernmaledemocrat

southernmaledemocrat — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:46:12 +0000

Another thought I had on the movie was that it clearly demonstrated the danger of having a partisan elected official (ie - Kathleen Harris) in charge of ensuring a fair election.

And that is true regardless of parts, whether the elected official is Harris, or our very own Elaine Marshall here in NC.

The problem is the federal government can’t really mandate how each state runs its election, but you would hope that each state would one day pass laws that take the implementation of election law out of partisan hands.

By: lillingtondemocrat

lillingtondemocrat — Mon, 26 May 2008 18:02:20 +0000

Former North Carolina Governor and US Senator Zebulon Vance began his political career in his early teens. His first efforts were as a “politcal street fighter” literally attacking voters of the opposition on their way to the polls. Needless to say he had no misconceptions about what it took to win an election.

By: retired political scientist

retired political scientist — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:58:20 +0000

One of the most persistent urban legends concerning American presidential politics is the charge that Kennedy was elected in 1960 because of election fraud in Chicago. I do not know whether Daley stole more votes in Cook County than the opposition downstate. I do know that Kennedy won 303 electoral votes to Nixon’s 219, with 269 required for election. Illinois had 27 electoral votes in 1960. Do the math.

By: Redneck

Redneck — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:34:06 +0000

I’m glad that Obama (and Hillary for that matter) isn’t a wuss like our prior nominees.

I think the movie and your column are reminders of why Gore isn’t the second-coming.

By: That Girl

That Girl — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:26:41 +0000

I think a large part of it comes down to the American people. We are the best trained for accepting whatever the professionals tell us is right.

In 2000, when the US Supreme Court decided an election rather than making sure all the votes were counted, the American people (both Dems and Republicans) should have rioted in the streets. Think about it - the highest court in the land, trusted with enforcing the US Constitution, told the officials in Florida to STOP counting the votes of the people. And the people??? They just grumbled under the breath and went along their merry way. In other countries, there would have been riots in the street. I’m not endorsing violence, but I am saying that as Americans we need to remember what had to occur for our country to become a democracy and when that is threatened, we need to fight it. In 2000, we didn’t.

I too hope that 2008 will be different. Different enough in how this campaign is run that for Obama it won’t come down to one state. But, if it does, and a court tries to decide the election, I have faith that the man who is campaigning as the agent of change and the millions of people who support him for that very reason, won’t let it slide this time. Not this time.